GIACCO, BERNARDO MARIA. - Capuchin, b. in Naples on 28 Sept. 1672 and d. on 5 June 1744. A celebrated preacher, he combined richness of imagery with popularity of form. He made his debut preaching the Advent in the small town of Piedimonte; but because of his frail constitution he withdrew to the convent of Cava and to Arienzo, intent on writing his best orations. From his retreat he often departed to go to Naples to deliver his panegyrics.

Of vast and varied culture, he educated his taste on the Latin classics and on the great Tuscans. He was a friend of Vico, who sent him his first Scienza nuova (1725) with a very well-known letter. He regarded the panegyric as «a kind of poem in loose prose», so much so that he was called the Monti of the pulpit. The Orazioni sacre (3 vols., Naples 1746-47) were reprinted several times (11th ed., ibid. 1850) and many entered collections of sacred orators.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: Apollinaris a Valentia, Bibliotheca Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum provinciae Neapolitanae, Rome-Naples 1886, pp. 61-64; L. Ventura, G. Vico e le sue relazioni coi Francescuni, in Archivum Franc. Historicum, 3 (1910), p. 37; E. Santini, Storia dell'eloquenza italiana, I, Palermo 1923, pp. 188-89; Melchior a Pobladura, Historia generalis Ordinis Min. Capuccinorum, part 2, II, Rome 1948, pp. 42-43.

Emilio Santini

@incollection{ec6_giacco_bernardo_maria, author = {Santini, Emilio}, title = {Giacco, bernardo maria}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {307}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/giacco-bernardo-maria} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Giacco, Bernardo Maria

About this entry